diff --git a/swarms/agents/workers/WorkerUltraNode.py b/swarms/agents/workers/WorkerUltraNode.py
index 0f88c82d..44a9f722 100644
--- a/swarms/agents/workers/WorkerUltraNode.py
+++ b/swarms/agents/workers/WorkerUltraNode.py
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ except Exception as e:
     
 class WorkerUltraNode:
     def __init__(self, objective: str, openai_api_key: str):
-        self.openai_api_key = openai_api_key
+        self.openai_api_key = openai_api_key or os.getenv("OPENAI_API_KEY")
 
         if not isinstance(objective, str):
             raise TypeError("Objective must be a string")